Overhead spring-actuated garage door



May 15, 1951 J. H. GRENZEBACK 2,552,959

OVERHEAD, SPRING-ACTUATED GARAGE DOOR Filed March 26, 194 2 Sheets-Sheet l mlfl ATTOAFA/EY,

May 15, 1951 J. H. GRENZEBACK OVERHEAD, SPRING-ACTUATED GARAGE DOOR 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed March 26, 1946 K y. a. I w A; 4 g 0 0 WM W Z A 5 E M r w a Patented May 1951 OVERHEAD SPRING-ACTUATED GARAGE DOOR James H. Grenzeback, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application March 26, 1946, Serial N 0. 657,289

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an overhead garage type door construction enabling a novel method of operation. Generally stated, the invention pertains to a construction and arrangement of elements whereby a rigid door panel may be easily moved from a vertical, closed position to a horizontal, overhead, open position with the expenditure of but a small amount of energy. The invention also relates to accessories or hardware which are easily installed and attached to the door panel and to the building so that the door does not occupy a great deal of space nor does it traverse utilizable storage space within the garage or other building equipped with such door.

Overhead or garage type doors are well known in the art and generally comprise a rigid panel which forms the door capable of cooperating with a stationary door frame. Various types of mechanism have been provided whereby the door may be raised so as to assume an open position with the door panel in a substantially horizontal plane overhead. In many instances, a portion of the door protrudes or extends from the building., In other arrangements, various elements or hardware have to be attached to the sides of thebuilding and in overhead positions so as to cooperate with the door. Many times the door traverses the upper front portion of the garage in such a manner that an automobile or vehicle provided with a high body (such as a station wagon) cannot be kept in the garage because the :door would hit the upper portion of the vehicle when being lowered into closed position. Some of the prior constructions involved many intricate pieces of hardware requiring very careful placement and this makes it difficult to properly and accurately install the door.

It is an object of the present invention to disclose and provide an overhead or garage door construction which is extremely simple and easy to' install, the hardware being adaptable to the door frame.

Another object of the invention is to disclose and provide a garage door construction which employs relatively light, extensible springs for counterbalancing the door.

An object of the invention is to provide an arrangement and construction which efiectively utilizes spring tension and gives a uniform, smooth action to the door.

A still further object is to disclose and provide a construction and arrangement of elements which employ a novel mode of operation.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those 2 skilled in the art from the following description. In order to facilitate understanding, reference will be had to the appended drawings showing certain illustrative arrangements.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a doorway (portion of the doorway being broken away) provided with an overhead door of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a somewhat schematic representation illustrating an intermediate position of the door and elements.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken along the plane IIIIII of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the lever carriage.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the upper portion of a door and means for guidingly supporting the same.

Fig. 6 is a rear view taken along the plane VI-VI of Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 illustrates another form of means for guidingly supporting the upper portion of a door.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a modified arrangement whereby the door is raised and closed by motor means.

For purposes of illustration, the door H3 is shown cooperating with a door frame composed of the near vertical post II, the far post l2, and a suitable overhead lintel defining the doorway M. The door It is shown in closed, vertical positionin full lines, but at it it is shown in an intermediate position and at H3 in a fully opened or overhead position. The door It may be of any suitable construction and is, in effect, a rigid panel.

The vertical side posts II and [2 of the door frame are each provided with an inwardly extending bracket generally indicated at [6 which may be attached to the corner posts or door frame in any suitable manner, as for example, by means of screws. In its preferred form, the bracket [6 comprises a vertical web I! and a horizontal, upper flange l8.

A lever carriage 20 is pivotally mounted near the inner end of each bracket I6, each lever carriage being provided with a rigid lever 2i attached thereto. Various forms of construction may be used in pivotally mounting the lever carriage 26 upon the bracket. In the form illustrated in Fig. 3, a stud bolt I9 is mounted in the web i! of the bracket l6 by means of lock nuts 19 and i9" and forms a horizontal pivot for the lever carriage 20. The lever carriage 20 carries a tubular sleeve 22 which may be welded to upturned edge portions 23 of the lever carriage 20. The

lower edge of the lever carriage may be bent outwardly as indicated at 24 so as to furnish a suitable seat for the rigid arm or lever 2| which is attached to the lever carriage by means of machine screws or by welding. The end of the lever carriage 20 may be bent inwardly as at 25 to form a means of connection for a counter-balancing and actuating spring.

One end of the lever 2| is thus attached to the lever carriage while the other end is pivotally connected to the lower portion of the door panel ID as at 21. It is to be noted that the lever 2| may be slightly offset as indicated in Fig. 4 at 28 so as to suitably clear the bracket l6 when the door is opened.

It is also to be noted that the longitudinal axis of the lever 2| does not pass through, the horizontal pivot embodied in the stud bolt l9. Instead, the longitudinal axis of lever 2| is displaced with respect to the pivot axis and is at right angles thereto. A material displacement is desirable'and in actual practice on the normal, household type, garage door, the displacement may be from three inches to about six inches.

A spring 30, horizontally displaced with respect to the lever 2|, is employed for counterb'alancing and actuating the door. One end of the spring is connected to the lower portion of the door frame I I at substantially the same level as the. pivotal door connection 21 with the lever 2| or at a point just slightly higher than such pivotal connection. The other end of the spring 30is connected to the lever 2| or lever carriage 2,0 ,atfla point virtually in alignment with the lever axis and materially beyond a perpendicular drawn from the pivot axis to the leveraxis. Asbest shown in Fig. 4, the upper end of the spring 30 may be connected to the inwardly turned holding, lug 25. When the rigid door panel i0 is in its vertical, closed'position, the spring 30 is therefore under maximum tension, and since the spring axis is substantially parallel to the axis of the lever 2|, the door will remain in closed position.

Means are provided, carried by the upper portion of the door panel 18 and cooperating with fixed guide means fastened to the building, for guiding the upper portion of the door panel along a virtually horizontal path of movement. Such means-may comprise side channels such as 34 and rollers carried by part of the door, the rollersextending into and running along the channels.

Figs 5 and 6 it will be seen that each of the upper corners of the door It! may be provided with an-arm 35, the lower end of the arm carrying a pin 3.6 journaled in a hinge plate 31 fastened to the. door as by means of screws, whereasthe upper end of the arm 35 carries the pin 38 provided with a rotatable roller 39. The hinge plate-31 is displaced somewhat from the edge of the door so that the arm 35 may swing about the pin 36, upward movement of the roller 3f! and arm 35 being stopped by the abutment of the army 35 with the. door. When the door is in fullyopened position, the parts assume the relationship shown in dash lines shown in Fig. 5.

By referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be noted that as soon as some upward and outward pull is applied to the lower portion of the door H), the spring 30 will exert a turning movement and impart rotation to the lever carriage 20. Since the lever carriage 20 carries rigid lever 2|, the assembly will be. moved into the position in cheated-in Fig. 2, and eventually into the. posi- Iii) tion indicated in dash lines in Fig. 1 at I0". The construction and arrangement disclosed permits a lighter spring to be employed for a door panel of a given size and weight than is the case in prior constructions. This apparently is due to the fact that the spring 30, as soon as the door is lifted but a small distance, develops a torque due to the offset carriage lever 20, the leverage being the distance between the axis of the lever 2| and the bracket pivotaxis, such as stud l9. At this initial stage, the spring is fully extended; as the door is raised the effective leverage of the spring is somewhat increased since the angle between the spring axis and the lever axis approaches But as the loading of the spring decreases with the raising of the door, the resultantv upon the upper or outer end of the arm 2| is virtually constant until the door approaches the fully open position I0. A smooth, uniform action is thus attained.

Other means for guiding and supporting the Upper portion of the door panel than those disclosed in Figs. 5 and 6 may be employed. Fig. 7 illustrates a single, overhead channel preferably positioned midway of the sides of the door and cooperating with a roller assembly carried by the upper edge of the door. As there shown, the upper edge of the door is provided with the hinged fitting is provided with a pair of rollers 4|. The member 40 is hingedly connected to a plate 42 attached to the upper edge of the door, the plate 52 also carrying a rotatable bumper roll 43. The bumper roll 43 iscapable of hearing against the lower edge of the channel 44 when the door is first lifted. v

The construction described hereinabove is readily converted into a motor driven means for raising and lowering doors and one such arrangement is shown in Fig. 8. In such arrange-. ment it is contemplated that the lever carriage 2|) is provided with a rigidly connected pivotpin which extends through the web ll, whereas the web I!- is provided With-a tubular seating collar for the pivot pin. The inward end of the pivot pin carried by the lever carriage 20 is also provided with a sprocket, or gear 45 capable of meshing with a pinion .46 mounted upon a' short counter shaft suitably journaled in the web I! of the bracket It. The same counter shaftv also carries a gear 41 which is driven by-meansof a pinion 48 carried by the shaft of motor 49 mounted upon the flange l8 of the bracket l6. Any other gear reduction may be used instead of the one illustrated, but it will be evident that Whenever the motor. is energized the lever carriage 20 will be partially rotated, thereby causing the door panel I 0 to be raised or lowered. Automatic limit switches may control the operation of the motor 49 so as to discontinue the energization of the motor at proper positions of the door.

It is to be remembered also that thelever carriage 20 may differin shape and form from the precise form illustrated, the invention not relying upon form but upon the particular arrangement and cooperation of the elements as described hereinbefore.

' I claim:

1. In a garage door construction including a door frame forming a doorway and a rigid panel forming a door, said door having avertical position closing the doorway and a raised, open position wherein the panel assumes a substantially horizontal, overhead position, the combination of: an inwardly extending bracket at tached to the door frame at each side of the doorway; a lever carriage mounted upon a horizontal pivot axis in each bracket, each lever car riage mounted at one end upon the horizontal pivotal axis in each bracket and having an axis perpendicular to the horizontal pivot axis; a rigid lever carried at the opposite end of said portion in spaced relation to the horizontal pivot axis, said lever having an axis lying perpendicular to the axis of said portion; means for pivotally connecting the end of the lever to a lower portion of the door panel; and a spring horizontally displaced with respect to the lever, one end of the spring being connected to the lower portion of the door frame and the other end of the spring to the lever carriage and lever at a point Virtuall in alignment with the lever axis and materially beyond a perpendicular drawn from the pivot axis to the lever axis, whereby the spring is under tension and virtually parallel to the lever when the door panel is in closed position.

2. In a garage door construction including a door frame forming a doorway and a rigid panel forming a door, said door having a vertical position closing the doorway and a raised, open position wherein the panel assumes a substantially horizontal, overhead position, and wherein means are carried by the upper portion of the door panel and cooperable with fixed guide means for guiding said upper portion of the door panel along a virtually horizontal path of movement, the combination of: an inwardly extending bracket attached to the door frame at each side of the doorway; a lever carriage mounted at one end upon a horizontal pivot axis in each bracket and having an axis perpendicular to the horizontal pivot axis, a rigid lever fixedly carried by said portion in spaced relation to the horizontal pivot axis, said lever having an axis lying perpendicular to the axis of said portion; means for pivotally connecting the end of the lever to a lower portion of the door panel; a spring horizontally displaced with respect to the lever, one end of the spring being connected to the lower portion of the door frame and the other end of the Spring to the lever carriage and lever at a point virtually in alignment with the lever axis and materially beyond a perpendicular drawn from the pivot axis to the lever axis, whereby the spring is under tension and virtually parallel to the lever when the door panel is in closed position.

3. In a garage door construction including a door frame forming a doorway and a rigid panel forming a door, said door having a vertical position closing the doorway and a raised, open position wherein the panel assumes a substantially horizontal, overhead position, and means for guiding the upper portion of the door panel along a virtually horizontal path of movement, the combination of: an inwardly extending bracket attached to the door frame at each side of the doorway; a lever carriage pivotally mounted at one end upon a horizontal axis in each bracket, each lever carriage projecting outwardly from said horizontal axis and having an axis lying in a plane perpendicular to the horizontal axis, a rigid lever carried by said portion adjacent the extremity thereof in spaced relation to the horizontal pivot axis, said lever having an axis lying perpendicular to the axis of said portion; means for pivotally connecting the end of the lever to a lower portion of the door panel; a

- spring horizontally displaced with respect to the lever, one end of the spring being connected to the lower portion of the door frame and the other end of the spring to the lever carriage and lever at a point virtually in alignment with the lever axis and materially beyond a perpendicular drawn from the pivot axis to the lever axis, whereby the spring is under tension and virtually parallel to the lever when the door panel is in closed position.

4. In a garage door construction including a door frame forming a doorway and a rigid panel forming a door, said door having a vertical position closing the doorway and a raised, open position wherein the panel assumes a substantially horizontal, overhead position, the combination of an inwardly extending bracket attached to the door frame at each side of the doorway; a lever carriage pivotally mounted at one end upon a horizontal axis in each bracket said portion lying in a plane perpendicular to the horizontal axis, a rigid lever carried by said portion in spaced relation to the horizontal axis; means for pivotally connecting one end of the lever to a lower portion of the door panel; and means for imparting a turning movement to the lever carriage upon said horizontal pivot axis including spring means having one end connected to said lever at a. point spaced from a plane perpendicular to the axis of said lever and passing through said horizontal axis and on the side opposite to the pivotal connection of said lever to said door panel.

JAMES H. GRENZEBACK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,090,697 Eddelman Mar. 17, 1914 1,926,671 Ferris Sept. 12, 1933 2,175,957 Dell Oct. 10, 1939 2,195,875 Pixley Apr. 2, 1940 2,255,769 Gallagher et al. Sept. 16, 1941 

